Fluid-pressure pumping apparatus



March 1926o 1,574,945

F. M. SLA-FER FLUID PRESSURE PUMPING APPARATUS Filed August 20, 1925 2Sheets-Sheel l INVENTOR H15 ATToh EY arch 2 9 lg, 1,574,945

F. M. SLATER FLUID PRESSURE PUMPING APPARATUS Filed August 20l 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I v w V INVENTOR Patented Mar. 2, 1926.O

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.FRED M. SLATER, F EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO INGERSOLL-RANDCOMPANY, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

FLUID-PRESSURE PUMPING APPARATUS.

Application med August 2o, 1925. serial No. 51,362.

To all whom tvmay concern.'

Be it known that I, FRED M. SLATER,.1 citizen of the United States, anda resident of Easton, .in the county of Northampton 5 and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain Fluid-Pressure Pumping Apparatus,of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings.

This invention relates to fluidpressure pumping apparatus, but moreparticularly to apparatus of this type for automatically andintermittently discharging the liquid from a well which may be a deepwell in accordance with the rise of liquid in the well.

Great difficulty is experienced in economically and efficiently pumpingthe liquid from a depleted or-nearlyI exhausted oil well for instance.Because of the great depth, two-thousand feet or more for instance, andthe comparatively small amount of oil which is available for recovery,at any one time, a reciprocating pump is expensive and impracticable.When a certain amount of oil is recovered, the pump must be stoppeduntil sutlicient oil has flowed into the well again to enable the pumpto be used and this may take considerable time.

Furthermore, pumping apparatus of various kinds located in the bottom fthe well involving valves forming component parts of the pump, areunsatisfactory because the valves are apt to get out of order or becomeclogged with mud or other foi" eign matter.

The object ot' the presentinvention is to enable the liquid in a nearlyexhausted well to be readily and economically recovered by means ofIiuid pressure pumping apparatus which is simple'and cheap to construct,and is valveless 1n so far as the parts at the bottom of the well areconcerned.

Another object of the invention is to enable such a well to beautomatically discharged by luid pressure from time to time when theliquid has risen in the well to a given point. After each discharge themain fluid pressure supply is stopped or cut off and is not used againuntil the proper amount of liquid has flowed into the well. Theapparatus does not require watching er hand -control but is entire yautomatic and dependent for operation on the beek pressure created in acasing forming a pump chamber adapted to be located near the bottom ofthe well.

The apparatus is shown in one of its preferred forms in the accompanyingdrawings, 1n which` 4 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectlonalelevation, broken in its length, of a deep well having my apparatusapplied thereto,

Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the controlling valve,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section al view of the controlling valve onthe line 3-3 of Figure 5 showing the valve closed,

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the valve open, and

Figure'5 is a transverse sectional view of the valve on the line 5 5 ofFigure 4; but with the valve closed.

Referring to the drawings, the deep well A which may be an oil well, isassumed to be greatly depleted or nearly exhausted of its oil and forthe purpose of recoveringl this oil, a casing B forming a pump chamberis adapted to be located in the well near the bottom of the well andbelow the level C of the liquid to which the oil will rise in the well,after a given period of time.

The casing B is preferably provided withthe upper head D and the lowerhead E, and a illlng pipe F as shown extends from a point G within thepump chamber near the upper head D, down through the lower head E to apoint H near the bottom of the well.

A discharge pipe J extends from a. point K wlthin the pump chamber nearthe bottom head E, through the upper head D to the surface of the groundL and is preferably provided with a down turned'end O discharging into atank or hopper P. This discharge pipe J is preferably provided with avent Q, within the pump chamber near the upper head D, through whichpressure fluid as compressed air, entering the pump chamber may esca eto atmosphere until the vent Q is closed y the liquid rising in the pumpchamber from the well athrough the illing pipe F.

A main Huid pressure supply pipe R extends from the lsurface-of theground to the pump chamber and terminates substantially at the pointSiebove the height of the upper ber to discharge the liquid.

valve mechanism, includes means for continuously permitting leakage ofpressure fluid down the supply pipe R vto the pump chamber untildischarge takes place, and in this instance, means are providedcontrolled by timing mechanism for cutting 'off the main pressure fluidsupply from the .main line U to the pump chamber, so that the apparatusis in readiness to permit the filling of the pump chamber again with oilor other liquid, and the well will be intermittently and automaticallydischarged.

The controlling apparatus indicated by the character T comprises a valvecasing V to which the main supply line U is connected and to which thesupply pipe R is also connected. A main valve WV is located in thecasing V having the head X controlling the passage of iluid from themain line U to the supply pipe R. The main valve lV is preferably heldnormally in closed position as indicated in Figures 3 and 5 by linepressure u on the lower head Y entering the valve c amber from thesupply line.

U through the opening a inside the main casing V.

The main valve lV is preferably controlled by the auxiliary spool valveZ) preferably shown hollow, and having apertures c and d cooperatingwith the' passages e and 7"' leading from the auxiliary valve cha-mberto the grooves g and lt respectively of the valve chamber of the mainvalve lV. lhe central portion of the valve chamber of the auxiliaryvalve b is in constant communication with the supply line U through theport j, and the hollow bore of the auxiliary valve b, is open toatmosphere through the aperturesltI in the plug 0. Longitudinal movementof the -valve b causes the main valve lV to aetuate by admitting linepressure from the supply linel U through port j and passage f beneaththe lower head Y of the main val-ve while opening passage e from the uper end of the main valve to atmosphere t rough the aperture c in theauxiliary valve and the plug o, as indicated by the position of theparts in Figure 4, thus raising the main valve, and supplying pressurefluid from the supply line U through the aperture a in the casing aroundthe neck f 0f the valve W to the Opening g in the casing whichcommunicates with the supply pipe R leading into the well.

A small leak port 1 is provided in the wall of the casing between thevalve controlled openings a and g so that pressure fluid is constantlyleaking down the well supply pipe R to the pump chamber. This constantleakage of air orf/pressure fluid passes to atmosphere through the holeQ in the discharge pipe J until said hole is closed bythe rising oil vinthe' pump chamber. At

pump chamber and the oil Within the pump chamber Will be discharged outthrough the discharge pipe J to the surface of the ground thlus emptyingthe chamber.

Timing mechanism is also provided in the controller for maintaining themain valve W open for a sufficient length of time to permit thedischarge of the pump chamber and then to close the main valveautomatically until the Well is in readiness again to be discharged.

The casing V is provided with a plunger s having a neck t extendingacross the top of the main opening u of the casing V and having a head'u between which and the cap w a springm is adapted to be compressed forreturning the plunger s to initial position shown in Figure 3 after ithas been actuated tothe position indicated in Figure 4 by back pressure.A' port 1/ connects the supply pipe R with the plunger cha-niber 2 whichchamber is closed by the cap 2. The neck t of the plunger is providedwith a collar 3 which cooperates .with tripping mechanism `operativelyconnected to the auxiliary valve b and also operatively connected totiming mechanism in the form of a dash pot 4 having a plunger 5 forretarding the return movement of they auxiliary valve 7) and thusmaintaining the main valve open for the desired time.

The tripping mechanism is pivoted on the stud 6 and in the form of atoggle coinprising .the bell crank lever 7 having the arm 8 to which therod 9 of the plunger 5 is pivotally connected by means of the link 10.The bell crank lever 7 is provided with a pivoted latch l2 at its upperend having a spring 13 bearing thereon and connected at one end to thelever 7 as b v means of the screw or pin 14. This latch 1,2 cooperateswith the collar 3 on the neck t of the plunger s and as the plunger isforced inwardly by back pressure, the collar '3 engages the latch androcks the bell crank lever 7 on its ivot.

Also .pivoteg on the stud 6 is a 'lever 15 connected by a link 16 to theauxiliary valve at one end and at the same end provided with a lip orfinger 17 engaging the fork 18 at thelower end of the bell crank lever7. The linger 17 is narrower than the width between the fingers of thefork 18 so that there is lost motion or play between the bell cranklever 7 and the outer lever 1.5. The upper end of the lever is connectedby a telescopic link 19 to the upper portion of the casing V and aspring 20 surrounds this link between the ends of the portions ofthetelescopic lever, so that as the bell crank lever 7 is rocked on itspivot the lever 15 and the link 19 which forma toggle are thrown overthe center from the position indicated in Figure 3 to lthe positionindiv cated in Figure 4. The lost motion connection between the lever 15and the bell crank lever 7 causes the auxiliary valve b to be thrownquickly in one direction or the other.

The timing element including the rdash pot 4 and plunger 5 causes themechanism to return slowly to its original position. The plunger 5 isloosely mounted on the end of the connect-ing rod 9 and a spring 21surrounding the connecting rod bears against the collar 22 on the rodand this spring is compressed as the arm 8 of the bell crank lever 7 israised so that the oil about the plunger 5 may pass freely through theplungcr apertures 23 and into the lower portion of the dash pot. 4. Thespring 21 before compression, torces the plunger rod 9 downwardly andthe collar 22 closes the plunger holes 23 so that the oil in the lowerpart of the dash pot 4 is forced back through the passage 24 into theoil reservoir 25. The rate of movement of the plunger 5 is controlled bythe needle valve 26 so that the timing mechanism may be set for anydesired time in which to permit the well to discharge.

In the operation of the device, the oil entering the well will rise inthe filling pipe F and pass to the pumpchamber in which the level willrise until the vent Q, is closed. 'lhe back pressure hereinbeforereferred to acting upon the controlling plunger .9 will force saidplunger to the left as the dra-wings are viewed and the collar 3 on theplunger neck t will engage the latch 12 and rock the bell crank lever 7upon its pivot which movement will in turn rock the lever 15 and theauxiliary valve b will be actuated to admit pressure fluid beneath themain valve IV and raise said valve. Pressure fluid from the main line Uwill then be admitted to the pump chamber through the pipe R. The springa' will return the plunger s to the initial position and the collar 3will pass backwardly over the latch 12. The spring 21 on the dash potplunger rod 9 will force the dash pot plunger `5- downwardly in the dashpot at a rate determined by the setting of the needle valve 26, thusreturning the auxiliary valve b to initial position which will cause theclosing of the main valve IV. The apparatus is then in condition to beagain actuated to embody the pum chamber when the pump chamber has fillewith oil.

I claim:

1. Fluid pressure pumping apparatus for automatically discharging liquidfrom a well in accordance with the rise of liquid in the well,comprising a casing located in the well into which the liquid ispermitted to enter, means controlled by the back pressure in the casingfor automatically discharging the casing by main pressure fluid, saiddischarging mechanism including a main valve,-an auxiliary valvecontrolling the main valve, and a back pressure valve controlling theauxiliary valve.

2. Fluid pressure pumping apparatus for automatically discharging liquidfrom a deep well in accordance with the rise of liquid in the well,comprising a casing located in the well into which the lliquid ispermitted to enter, a controller controlled by th back pressure in thecasing for automatical y discharging the casing by main pressure fluid,said controller comprising a main valve, an auxiliary valve controllingthe main valve, a controller plunger subject to back pressure, operativeconnections between the controller plunger' and the auxiliary valve, anda timing element operatively connected to said connections between theplunger and the auxiliary valve, said timing element havingfluidretarding means, and means for varying the time in which saidtiming clement acts.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

FRED M. SLATER.

